May Reading Wrap Up

May was, as always, a busy month! And yet somehow I managed to read 13 books. Let’s take a look at the books and then I’ll look at balancing out my tbr with the new books I brought in. If you’d rather see this in video format that’s linked below!

My first read was Rebel Heart by Moira Young, the second book in the Blood Red Road trilogy. This suffered a little from middle book syndrome, with the characters clearly just being moved into place for the final book. But it was still interesting to be back in this world and I’m looking forward to capping off the series, hopefully sometime soon.

My non-fiction for the month was Living Planet by David Attenborough which is a republication of a book from the 80s. In this repub they’ve updated the scientific information, as well as switching out examples of species to those which are more obscure. This was a fantastic book and I’m so glad I can add it to my shelves!

This month I discovered that Spotify has some audiobooks you can listen to for free, so I listened to The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien because it was way past time for me to read this one. It’s such a fun audiobook and I’m definitely more hyped to read the main LotR trilogy now!

Freak Like Me by Hannah O’Donnell is a teeny book, at only 10 pages, but it packs a punch. Talking about familiars and acceptance in society, I would adore to see a full sized book within this world (and am tempted to hound Hannah until she does it!)

My last audiobook for the month was Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, which is a novel written in verse. This is a really tough novel, discussing gang violence and deaths in Black communities in the US. It’s tackled beautifully and I want to read more from Reynolds!

A partial reread, Binti: The Complete Collection by Nnedi Okorafor includes the titular novel Binti, as well as two more novellas in the series and a final short story between books 1 and 2. I read Binti previously via audio, but when I was picking up this collection I thought that I should reread the first book before diving in. This is a gorgeous sci-fi series that tackles racism, leaving home, being from multiple cultures and not feeling like you fit it, and it does all of it beautifully. I was genuinely disappointed when I realised I didn’t have anything else in this world to read!

Graceling by Kristin Cashore is one that I should’ve read years ago! It’s one of those “classic” YAs from the 00s and is such a fun read. The naming conventions are ridiculous, but I really enjoyed the book and I’m super excited to delve into the rest of the series, and then read the brand new release that’s due to come out later this year! I need to get my butt in gear clearly.

By now, I think I’ve solidified that the Goldsboro GSFF box sends me books that I adore, because Wild and Wicked Things by Francesca May was fantastic. A magical, witchy, dark book set on a small island in the 1920s with murder, lesbians, and non-binary rep. What else could you ask for?

Then I delved into some British ridiculousness with The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde which is a murder mystery, with Humpty Dumpty as the victim! I loved Fforde’s work in the Thursday Next series and this didn’t disappoint. Utterly stupid whilst also being brilliantly clever. I need to pick up more from Fforde.

Time for a little classic with The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, the synopsis on the back of my copy just talks about Wilde, and so I went into this knowing literally nothing. Colour me surprised when there was a fantastical element inside! There was one chapter that I really didn’t enjoy in here, but apart from that it was a fun classic with a really interesting concept I would love to see played with more.

Sticking with pictures, but this time it’s a contemporary read from Illumicrate. Portrait of a Thief by Grace D Li could’ve been so much more. It really needed better work on the character development, and the heist plots to steal back Chinese artefacts from Western museums needed a shade more believability. It was clearly a debut but I’m interested in anything else Li publishes in the future.

This Vicious Cure by Emily Suvada finished off the This Mortal Coil trilogy with a bang. The character development was fascinating, I adore the genetics and general science throughout all of this, and I actually really liked the ending! Looking forward to rereading this trilogy in the future.

Last but not least, I finished up my month with some Discworld in the form of Pyramids by Terry Pratchett, the seventh book in the series. This is a fun romp following the Pharaoh of not-quite-Egypt, who also happens to be a God and an assassin. In the ridiculous world on the back of the Great A’Tuin it’s a great standalone in the series.

And those are the thirteen books I managed to read this past month! I’m pretty happy with that if I do say so myself.

And then there comes the balancing. So I didn’t balance out my books for April (because it was a rough month) but I started May with 119 books on my tbr (honestly I really need to get this to a more reasonable number). I read 13 books, with 9 of them being from my tbr. I brought in 5 new books, and read 1 of those. All in all meaning that my new physical tbr count is 114. It’s went down!! I’m so damn pleased that I’m actually making some headway through this tbr!!

Let me know your favourite read of May. I’m spoilt for choice but I think Wild and Wicked Things might just have hit the top spot for me!

My May tbr

The fact we’re already so far into the year is panicking me a little, but let’s focus on all the books I’m hoping on reading this month!

I’m back on my BookTube Bullshit (TM) this month so if you’d like to see my tbr in video form instead then click below!

To the books!!

First up we have This Vicious Cure by Emily Suvada which is the third book in the This Mortal Coil series. This is all about a disease which causes people to explode, and is set in a world where people can manipulate their DNA. A Sci-Fi YA and I have *adored* the first two books so I’m super excited to delve into this final one!

Rebel Heart by Moira Young means I’m continuing in another series, but this time with the second book in the trilogy of Blood Red Road. Set in a Dystopian future in the continental US and following a young woman who, in the first book, sets out to find her brother after he was kidnapped by the Tonton.

Then I want to read Illumicrate’s book for last month, Portrait of a Thief by Grace D Li which is set around five Chinese American teens/young adults “stealing” back artefacts from Western museums which were originally stolen from China. The concept is amazing and I’m really looking forward to delving in.

For a fun book I’ve went with The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde which is a companion series to Thursday Next and follows nursery rhyme characters inside their book world. British humour at its most ridiculous is what I’m expecting!

Graceling by Kristin Cashore is a “classic” YA fantasy that Kar-ing for Books and Veronica’s Shelf are super excited for me to read, and given that I bought the four books currently out in Feb? Well I felt like I should get going!

My non-fiction pick for the month is Living Planet by David Attenborough which is a republishing (with significant edits apparently) from the original in the 80s. I adore all things Earth Science and Ecology so I am 100% here for this.

I’d love to get to The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde this month. It’s only a short classic and I’ve heard amazing things about Wilde’s writing!

Wild and Wicked Things by Francesca May came in my Goldsboro box and I like to try and read those and keep on top of them so I’m definitely diving into this one. All I know about it is that it’s a Historical Fantasy set during the 1920s!

And last but never least, my audiobook for the month is The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein, and yes it’s shameful I’ve not read it yet. There’s a free audiobook available on Spotify and I’m really excited to delve into this beloved fantasy world!

And that’s it! Just a short tbr this month as I get back into the swing of things. Have you read any of these? Tell me what you thought of them! And have you picked out your May TBR? Let me know what you’re excited to read this month!!

May TBR!

This month I am off to visit my boyfriend for 6 days, which means train journeys and limited packing space. In light of this, I decided I would only take my kindle with me when I visited (God the self-control I’m going to need will be immense!), and therefore a lot of my tbr this month are some eARC’s from NetGalley which I need to get to. I am going to be pretty ruthless with these, if I’m not enjoying them then they’re being DNF’d and that is that. Fingers crossed they’re really good for me and for the author!

So – into the books!!

The first book I’d like to get into this month is Ink by Alice Broadway. I wanted to read this last month but I didn’t manage to find the time for it, it looks like such a good YA read and I’m really hoping it lives up to my expectations! The cover is absolutely beautiful as well which doesn’t hurt!

 

Next, I’d like to read City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. Yes, yes I know. I should have read this series already, but at least I’m finally getting around to it! I managed to get 94 pages into the book previously but University work got in the way, I did absolutely love those first few pages though so I’m looking forward to being sucked back in and finally understanding the hype!

The third book I’d like to get to in May is Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton. Again I have already started reading this book, I knew Alwyn was coming to the NYALitFest in Preston and wanted to read the book before the event. However….. I ended up really loving the world! I didn’t want to rush through it and decided to leave it until I had enough free time to really enjoy it, so I think taking it as my train journey book is a good plan for this month.

The rest of the books on my May TBR are the eARC’s I have chosen from my NetGalley books, which total four books. I probably won’t read these in any specific order, but here they are!

Book number one on the ARC list is Cross Her Heart by Sarah Pinborough. This is a thriller book, and the blurb doesn’t really tell you much more than that! I really like the cover for some reason, I think it’s the hue of blue and I do really like the pincushion heart. I requested this on a whim and fingers crossed it’ll be engrossing and shocking!

ARC number two is Queendom of the Seven Lakes by A.B. Endacott which is a NA fantasy novel (NA = New Adult). It follows an assassin who has been hired to protect the Queen’s son, however, she discovers he is being groomed for the throne. A throne which is never supposed to be succeeded to a man. Elen-ai must come to terms with this political landscape whilst protecting the prince from the dangers which seem to come at him from all sides. A really engrossing sounding fantasy which I hope is as good as the synopsis suggests!

The third ARC for May is The Unity Game by Leonora Meriel. This seems to be a sci-fi, mystery and fantasy book all rolled into one and if this is pulled off it will be amazing! There is not much explained, yet again, in the synopsis, however, there is enough to pique my interest and I hope I’ll enjoy it!

 

The fourth and final ARC for the month of May is Some Assembly Required by Michael Strelow. This sci-fi read follows Jake as the voice he hears in his head seems to be transferred to the physical world in a weird, amorphic, green-grey… lump? This has potential to be really funny, but I have a feeling that I won’t be keen if it’s taken too seriously.

 

I would like to get more reading done than this in May, however, after not reading properly for a while I don’t want to stretch myself too far with an overambitious tbr. Fingers crossed I’ll have lots more books in my wrap up, but if not I’ll be happy that I just have the time to read again.

Follow me either here on WordPress or on my twitter account @autumnpellinor to get updates when I post my next blogs and see my wrap up at the end of the month!